Amusement device



March 31, 1925. 1,531,456

A. F. SCHIERBURG ET AL I Filed June 6, 1924 flleri fi-T .S'cbierury Elli; Graham Maich 31. 1,531,456

' A. F. SCHIERBURG ET AL AMUSEMENT DEVICE n q Jung 6, 1924 "s Sheets-Shet I gwmntou fllberi if .S'claierwy Graham March 31, 1925 1,531,456

' A. F. SCHIERBURGET AL AMUSEMENT DEVICE I Eilecl Jun e 6, 1 2 5 shets-sheet 5 Elli; Grafia'm.

abto'znu Patented Mar. 31, 1925.

UNITED STATES ALBERT F. SCHIERBURG AND ELLIS FfGR-AHAM, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

Application filed June 6,

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that we, runner F. SOHIER- nuns and ELLIS F. GRAHAM, citizens ofthe United States, residing at the city and county of-Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Amusement Devices; and-we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the. accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. Y

This invention relates to. amusement devices designed with special reference to the requirements of amusement parks, summer .resorts and similar places.

It is customary at" amusement'parks to dispense candy and similar merchandise by means of chance wheels which are set in motion by the operator and stop with an indicator pointing to the winning number, Such devices, however, are controlled by chance entirely. I

It is the object of the present invention to produce an amusement device that're sponds to the shill of the operator and which,-

hercfore, becomes a game of skill and not of chance.

Our device, briefly described, comprises a plurality of arms mounted to rotate about a common vertical axis. Each arm carries a miniature horse, which are all located at the same height and can be rotated in concentric circles about the common axis.

who turns a crank that is connected by suit able mechanism with the horse. This mechanism is so constructed that it will automatically disconnect if a predetermined speed is exceeded. Au indicator shows the player the speed and enables him to maintain the maximum speed without exceeding the limit. The one who maintains the maximum speed without exceeding the limit becomes the winner. A great deal of skill is necessary to obtain the highest average speed and the game therefore is dependent on the skill with which it is played, as distinguished from games wherethe results are left to chance. The game apparatus as illustrated, and which will. hereinafter be described in Thespeed of each horse is controlled by a player 1924-. Serial No. 718,257.

detail, employs twelve horses and can ac the end of each race- Our invention can be most clearly described and willbe most readily understood when reference is had to the accompanying drawing where the preferred embodiment'thereof is illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in plan and partly in section of our apparatus, portions being broken away to better show theconstruction;

Fig.2 is a section taken on line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33, Fig. 2; Q v

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4:, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 1s a view, partly broken away, taken on line 55, Fig. 1, showing the mechanism for moving the horses to starting position after each race;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line .6'G, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77, Fig. 1; I

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the indicator dial; .Fig. '9 is anclevation ofthe switch mechanism;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line 10-10, Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11 is an end view looking in the direction of arrowll, Fig. 9.

Numeral 1 represents a vertical shaft which forms the central axis about which the horses 2 rotate. This shaft is secured at its lower end to a flange 3 that is bolted to thefloor 4; and has its top secured to a flange- 5 bolted to the ceiling 6. Referring now more particularly to Figs; 3 and 4, it will be noticed that there are a plurality of concentric tubular shafts 7 rotatably mounted on the vertical shaft 1. These tubular shafts The same means of the other tubular shafts arelikewise provided at their lower ends with gears 8 which may be spaced frome'ach other by collars 10. They are also provided near their upper ends with disks 9. These disks are providedon their upper side with radial notches 11. Botatably mounted on each tubular shaft adjacent to the upper surface of the disk 9 is a disk 12 which is held in place on the shaft by means of a collar 13. A pawl 14 is pivotally connected to the projecting ear 15 and cooperates with the ratchet notches 11 to prevent rotation of disk 12 in one-direction. Secured to each disk 12 is a rod 16 having its outer end bent upwardly. To the upper end of the upwardly extending portion horse 2 is attached, (Fig. 2). The rod 15, which is attached to the upper most disk 12, is the shortest, while the rod attached to the lowermost disk 12 is the longest. It is now evident that by rotating the tubular shafts, the horses will be caused to travel in concentric circles about the vertical axle 1. V

In order to support each one of the shafts 7 with its attached gear, disks, collars, rod and horse independently, we have provided a vertical bracket 17 (Figs. 2 and 4) to which rollers 18 are pivotally attached. These rollers engage the lower side of the gears 8. This is merely shown as an example and may be replaced by equivalent means if desired. v

Vi e will now describe the means whereby the horses are made to travel. In Fig. 1 we have shown three angularly related counters 19, above the top of which the crank disks 20 are located. Adjacent each disk is an indicator 21 shown more clearly in Fig. 8. Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 7, it will be noted that the disk 20 is connected to the upper end of a hollow shaft 22. A shaft 23 extends upwardly and into the shaft 22. Secured to shaft 22 is a bracket 24 to which the governor arms 25 are pivoted. Two arms 26 are pivoted to arms 25 at points 27 and have their-lower ends pivotally attached to the collar 28 that is fastened by suitable means with the clutch member 29, which is slidable and rotatable on the shaft 3 so that when the disk 20 is rotated, the action of the governor will raise the clutch member 29 until at a predetermined speed, it becomes separated from the clutch member 30, which is secured to shaft 23, and thereby permits the latter shaft to stop. to the corresponding tubular shaft 7 by means comprising a horizontal shaft which is operatively connected to shaft 23 by means of bevel gears 32. At the other end of shaft 31 there is a vertical shaft33 operatively connected to it by means of bevel gears 34.

To the upper end of shaft 33 I secure a pinion 35, that engages with one of the gear wheels 8. It now evident that when the crank disk 20 is rotated, one of the tubular shafts will also be rotated and this in turn will cause one of the horses to move about the central axle 1. Each one of the twelve disks 20 is connected to one of the tubular shafts 7 by means constructed in the manner described. If the disk 20 is rotated at too great a speed, the governor will disconnect the shafts 22 and 23 and the movement of the horse will stop. In order that the operator or player may intelligently regulate the speed of rotation of the disk, an indicator 21 is provided for each player. This indicator has been shown more or less diagrammatically and comprises a dial 36 (Fig. 8). A shaft 37 extends vertically from the floor and into the indicator. A pointer 38 is carried by the shaft. To the lower end of the shaft we have secured a crank 39. A spring connects the crank with some stationary member and exerts a force tending to retain the indicator in Zero position. A flexible member 41 is connected to the crank 39, passes around a pulley 42 and connects with a rod 43 slidably mounted in a tubular bearing 441. The upper end of the rod. 43 is secured to the clutch member 29 so as to move upwardly and downwardly in accordance with the movements of the latter. As clutch member 29 moves upwardly, the parts just described will cause the pointer 38 to rotate about the scale. hen the pointer reaches some predetern'iined point on the scale, for example 30, the clutch will disconnect. It therefore becomes necessary for the player to exercise great care in the driving of his horse, as it is evident that if the governor operates to disconnect the shafts, considerable time will be lost, whereas a steady motion at a speed near to, but never exceeding the maximum, affords the best chance of winning, V

In order to positively determine the winner, we have provided the following mechanism which is shown with considerable detail in Figs. 9, 10 and 11: Numeral 44 rep resents a board or plate having arches 45 through which the horses pass. At the ends of the board 44 there are vertical end members 46 and 47. A shaft 48 is rotatably mounted in the ends 46 and 47 a short distance above the arches: 45. A collar 48 is secured to the shaft 48 and engages the in Motion is transmitted from shaft 23' end piece 46. A second collar is secured to the end of the shaft 44 on the outside of the vertical member.- A spring 4:9 has one end secured to thelastnamed collar by a screw 49. This spring is under compression and produces considerable friction that holds the shaft against rotation until the required torque for this purpose is applied to itby the operator in a manner that will be hereinafter described. Rotatably mounted on the shaft as, directly above each arch, is an operating member 50. A collar 51 is clamped to the shaft by means of a screw 52 and serves as an abutment for the operating member 50, which, however, is spaced from it by a rubber ring 53. A second rubber ring 54 engages the other side of the operating member and this is forced against the operating member by means of the spring 55 whose other end abuts the collar 56. The operating members 50, of which there is one for each horse, may be rotated on the shaft, but the friction caused by the parts described is sufficient to hold them against -ac cidental rotation. Each operating member has three radial projections A, B and C, which extend downwardly to such a distance that they will be engaged by the horses as the latter pass under the arch. At the bener side of the ginning of the race the projection A, which is longer than the other, extends vertically. As the horse makes the first complete circle, it rotates the operating member through an angle equal to the angle between two adjacent fingers. After the third complete-circle by the horse, the operating member is in the dotted line position (Fig. 10). The first horse to move the operating member to the position shown in Fig. 10 is the winner. For the purpose of mechanically deter-mining and indicating the winner, the following means is provided:

Secured to the back of the board 4-1 are metal plates 57 that are connected by means of an electrical conductor 58 with one terminal of a lamp 59. The other terminal of this lamp is connected by means of a conductor 60 with one pole of a battery 61 or other source of electrical energy. The opposite pole of this battery is connected by Secured aconductor 62 with a shaft 63. to the-shaft 63 are movable arms 64l of electrically conducting material. These arms 'are urged to dotted line position (Fig.- 10) In this manner the detentdiately move into contact with the plate 4-7 and complete the circuit to the lamp Arm A in moving to dotted line position (Fig. 10) also strikes the pin '70 onthe end 7 of the arm 71. Thisarm is secured to a I rod 72 whose end is bent into a crank-7 3. A link 74 connects the end of the crank 73 with the arm 75, which is p1vo-ted at 7:6.

This arm, when in' the position shown in Fig. 11, engages in a notch 7-7 in the slide 78 and holds it from being moved towards the right by the spring 79 (Fig. 9). Pivotally attached to the slide are members 80 of fiber or other suitable insulatingmaterial. A spring 81 holds each member normally in the position shown in Fig. S), but permits it to rotate clockwise about the pivot. hen the pawl 7 5 is raised out of the notch 77, the spring 79 moves the slide 7 8 towards the righta suflic-ient distance to enable the parts 80 to cover the contacts 57. hen the winning liorseccmpletes the third lap, the arm A strikes the end 69 of rod '68 and releases the contact-making member 64, which moves to circuit-closingposition in the manner above explained. Arm then strikes pin 70 and rotates the shaft 72-tl1ereby raising the pawl out of engagement with the notch 77, which releases the slide and permits it to move to the right.

The insulating members now cover the contact plates '57. Themember '80 that corresponds to the contact plate of the winning horse strikes the side of the arm 64; and is rotated slightly about its pivot. As the other horses complete their third lap, they each release their corresponding contact arm 64, but these, instead of striking the plates 57, strike the'insulating members 80 and therefore do not complete the circuit to the lamp. After the race is finished, the operator grasps,- the lever 82,.mov-ing the same downwardly (Fig. 1 1') A flexible member 83 connects the lever 82 to the wheel 84011 the end of the shaft 48 and retates the latter so as to bring all of the members 50 to full line position (Fig. 10,). An arm 85 is connected to the end of the shaft 63 and the end of this arm is connected to the lever '82 by a rod 85. fore, when lever 82. is moved downwardly, it rotates the shaft 63 in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 10) and brings the arms Get into full line, or-inoperative position where they are locked by the detent members 66.

There- 7 A bell crank lever 87 is pivoted at 88' and has a hook 89 attached to the upper free end. To the lower free end a rod '90 is pivoted. The lower end of this rod is at tached to the lever 82 at '90. 'lvh'e'irlever 82 is moved downwardly, the hook sa-is moved towards the left and carries with it the slide 78 which will be locked in position by the pawl 75. These parts are now reset for the next race. 7

As the players cease rotating thev disks 20, the horses will stop and at the end of the race they will be distributed along the race course. It is necessary to bring thenr all into line before the next race starts and this is accomplished as follows:

Rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft 1 is a gear wheel 91 having a long tubular hub 92, to which the arm 93 is secured. The gear 91 has an annular channel 94 at its upper end for the reception of a ring 95; To this ring a pair of spaced uprights 96 are secured. A lever 97 is pivoted at 98 to a bracket 99 and has one end attached to the brackets 96. A rod 100 extends downwardly from the other end of the lever 97 and connects at 101 with the end of lever 102 which is pivoted at 103 to the bracket 10 1. A spring 105 tends to hold the parts in the positionshown in Fig. a. When sufficient pressure is exerted on the end 106 of lever 102 to overcome the tension of the spring, the parts will move in such a mans ner that gear 91 will come into contact with gear 107 which is mounted on the end of the shaft 108. By means ofthe crank 109, the shaft 108 can be rotated. This will cause arm 93 to rotate. This arm, w'hen in its lowermost or dotted line position (Fig. 2), engages the horses and moves them into alignment. for starting. After the horses have been aligned, the pressure on lever 102 is released and the bar 93 moves to full line position where it is out of the way of the horses.

For the purpose of locking the crank disks against rotation, except when they are employed for the purpose of a race, we have provided a pin 110 (Fig. 7). which is normally urged upwardly by means of a springv 111. lVhcn pin 110 is in its upward position, it engages the bottom of disk 20,

which is provided with downwardly extend: ing ribs 112, and acts as a stop to prevent its rotation. A lever 113, which is pivoted at 114, is connected with the lower end of the rod 110 and serves to move it to and hold it in inoperative position.

From the above it will be apparent that we have produced an amusement device which is so constructed that a number of players can each independently control one horse of a group and determine its speed within a specified limit. lVhenthe speed exceeds this limit the horse-stops, wherefore it becomes necessary for the players to exercise great skill and care to win the race.

tively rotatable concentric shafts, a rod operatively connected toeach shaft and extending radially therefrom, a ratchet connection between each rod and its shaft, manually operated driving means for rotating each of said shafts independently, a clutch in said driving means, speed controlled means for disconnecting the tubular shaft from itsv driving means whenever the speed exceeds a predetermined value, and a speed indicator said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, a crank for I each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmitting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, a speed indicator operatively connected to the crank, and a speed controlled de vice in the connection between the crank and shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a prede termined amount.

3. In an amusement device, in combina tion, a plurality of vertically arranged relatively rotatable concentric shafts, a disk rotatably secured to the upper end of each shaft, a ratchet connection between the disk and the shaft, a rod connected to said disk, said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, the outer ends of said shafts being bent vertically, miniature horses attached to the upper ends of the vertical portions, a crank for each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmitting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, a speed indicator operatively connected to the crank, and a speed controlled de vice in the connection between the crank and shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a predetermined amount. 2

1. In an amusement device, in combination, a plurality of vertically arranged relatively rotatable concentric shafts, a disk rotatably secured to the upper end of each shaft, a ratchet connection between the disk and the shaft, a rodconnected to said disk, said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, the outer ends of said shafts beingbent vertically,

miniature horses attached to the upper ends of the vertical portions, a crank for each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmitting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, a speed indicator operatively connected to the crank, a speed controlled device 0 in the connection between the crank and the shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a predetermined amount, and means for automatically indicating the winner.

5. In an amusement device, incombination, a plurality of vertically arranged relatively rotatable concentric shafts, a disk rotatably secured tovthe upper end of each shaft, a ratchet connection between the disk and the shaft, a rod connected to said disk, said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, the outer ends of said shafts being bent vertically, miniature horses attached to the upper ends of the vertical portions, a crank for each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmitting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, a speed indicator operatively connected to the crank, a speed controlled device in the connection between the crank and the shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a predetermined amount, and means for automatically indicating the winner, said means comprising an electric switch adapted to beclosed by the horse.

6. In an amusement device, in combination, a plurality of vertically arranged relatively rotatable concentric shafts, a disk rotatably secured to the upper end of each shaft, a ratchet connection between the disk and the shaft, a rod connected to said disk, said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, the outer ends of said shafts, being bent vertically, miniature horses attached to the upper ends of the vertical portions, a crank for each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmitting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, aspeed indicator operatively connected to the crank, 21 speed controlled device in the connection between the crank and the shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a predetermined amount, means for automatically indicating the winner, and means for bringing all of the horses to the starting position.

7. In an amusement device, in combination, a plurality of vertically arranged relatively rotatable concentric shafts, a disk rotatably secured to the upper end of each shaft, a ratchet connection between the disk and the shaft, arod connected to said disk, said rod extending radially and at right angles to the axis of the shafts, the outer ends of said shafts, being bent vertically, miniature horses attached to the upper ends of the vertical portions, a: crank for each shaft located at some distance from the tubular shafts, means for transmit-ting motion from the crank to the corresponding shaft, a speed indicator operatively connected to the crank, a speed controlled device in the connection between the crank and the shaft for disconnecting the crank from the shaft in case the speed exceeds a predetermined amount, means for automatically .indicating the winner, and means for bringfirst-named disk and vconnected thereto by: a pawl and ratchet mechanism, a rod secured to the rotatable disk and projecting radially therefrom, a miniature horse on the end of each rod, a crank disk mounted for rotation at a position spaced from the tubular shafts, a speed indicator connected to said disk, power-transmitting means connecting the cranks with the shafts, and a speed-controlled clutch in said power-transmitting means, said clutch being adapted to V be rendered inoperative at a predetermined speed. a

9. In an amusement device, in combinaof relatively rotatable tubular shafts concentric with the stationary shaft,- each tution, a vertical stationary shaft, a plurality bular shaft havinga gear wheel secured to its lower endand a disk secured to its upper end, a rotatable disk on each tubular shaft, said last-named disk being supported on the first-named disk and connected thereto by a pawl and ratchet mechanism, a rod secured to the rotatable disk'and projecting radially therefrom, a miniature horse on the end of each rod, a crank disk mounted for rotation at a position spaced from the tubular shafts, a speed indicator connected to said disk, power-transmitting means connecting the cranks with the shafts, a speedcontrolled clutch in said power-transmitting means, said clutch being adapted to be rendered inoperative at a predetermined speed, and electrical means for indicating the winning horse. V 1

10. In an amusement device, in combina tion, a vertical stationary shaft, a plurality of relatively rotatable tubular shaft-s concentric with the stationary shaft, each tubular shaft having a gear wheel secured to its lower end and a disk secured to its upper end, a rotatable disk on. each tubular shaft, said last-named disk being supported on the first-named disk and connected thereto by a pawl and ratchet mechanism, arod secured to the rotatable disk and projecting radially therefrom, a miniature horseon the end of each rod, a crank disk mounted for rotation at a position spaced. from the tubular shafts, a speed indicator connected to said disk, power-transmitting means connecting the cranks with the shafts, a speed controlled clutch in said power-transmitting means, said clutch being adapted to be rendered inoperative at a predetermined speed, electrical means for indicating the winning horse, and means for simultaneously bringing all horses to the starting :position. V 10 In testimony whereof We affiX our signatures.

ALBERT F. SCHIERBURG. ELLIS F. GRAHAM. 

